Nagarajan Krishnamurthy

Recent association as a “Group Finance Controller” with a Qatar based company at Doha, which deals with supply of switchgear panels, testing & commissioning of electrical panel projects, Building automation projects; The company is a reliable channel partner of ABB, Schneider, Eaton and Honeywell in Qatar.

Joined the same company, after returning from Qatar.

Focus was on strategic business issues
Helped in the business valuation and in the funding issues.

A member of “Nass Group” of companies having its headquarters in Bahrain. Nass Group is a diversified conglomerate with almost 40 companies in its group, primarily engaged in contracting, industrial, manufacturing, marine services and trading activities. It is headquartered in Bahrain and has offices throughout the Gulf. (www.nassgroup.com)

Abdulla Nass Group Co., at Doha, had secured a new waste water Pumping station project (& allied Pipe laying works), with a contract value of approx. QAR. 750 Million (USD 200 Million approximate), which is expected to be completed by mid of 2018.

Though I was given a confirmed employment offer in June 2015, I was able to travel and join in October 2015 only, due to delays in getting a visa. Finally, I travelled on a temporary visa of 3 months validity and had to come back in Jan 2016, due to visa issues.

The brief tenure was spent on initial assessment & evaluation of existing systems, studies on clients’ contracts / agreements, evaluation of sub-contractors’ agreement and purchase orders of high value, evaluation of existing Peach Tree (sage) accounting software and studies on new ERP system, understanding of the line of credit (LOC) arrangements with the HSBC, Doha.

CSR India is an aggregator business model, in the hospitality domain; handled a GBV volume of INR.400 crores; Serving blue chip clients like Accenture, Wipro, HCL, Virtusa etc.; It’s a high volume transactions based company; led a direct team of 15-17 accounts professionals, plus indirect management and interaction with other department managers.

Made a comprehensive study of the company’s business profile & the industry sector, within a month of joining and compiled an “Assessment Report / Diagnostic Report” on the existing business & revenue model, from a strategic financial perspective and Risk management perspective.

Identified the key issues and problems & brought them to the Board’s attention, including issues related to Revenue recognition standards and accounting software under use. Briefed the management on the road map for attracting / inviting PE funds for the company.

Played a key role, in a quick turnaround of the business situation, through implementation of “Financial discipline” within a span of 5 months of joining, resulting in improvement of average cash in-flows by 30-35%.

Eased the working capital pressure, by rearranging the credit card limits and obtaining the additional credit facilities on corporate credit cards, as secured and unsecured credit facilities. Disciplined the Credit cards usage, as it is the fulcrum of the booking operations.
Improved the payments to creditors and enhanced smooth relationships;

Initiated and encouraged Accounts Reconciliation with the suppliers, which did not exist before and created an atmosphere for resolving accounting issues between both.

Ensured prompt resolution of AR issues and facilitated the collection of AR dues from HCL and Wipro, involving reco with the concerned teams. Dues of more than INR.2 crores were collected due to such initiation.

Suggested comprehensive business process integration thru an effective ERP, automating the operational aspects of the business with the financial accounting, thus reducing manual intervention of data capturing into financial systems.

Division Head-Finance & Accounts, in the Senior Manager grade, NPC Ltd, Saudi Arabia (May 2012 to till date)

Responsibilities:

Supported in hiving off the “Engineering, Construction & Construction Equipment” division, into a separate subsidiary.

Evaluated, conceptualized & proposed various business models based on the competencies & available infrastructure for Engineering and construction subsidiary

Created a projected revenue model of 5 year forecast & high level income statements for the business models, which was well received by the board.

Recommended reorganization of the Engineering division into a SBU based structure to extract maximum benefit from various competencies in the current business.

Drew up a detailed, time based action plan for implementation

Reported to Director-Construction, with dotted line reporting to Head-Corporate Finance

Finance Controller, Weston Solutions India Pvt. Ltd, (US MNC) Hyderabad (Oct 2007 to March 2012)

US MNC with $ 500 million of annual revenue, having its head quarters in Pennsylvania State USA and has nearly 50 offices in US and other countries. The Company is a trusted integrator for Sustainable solutions delivering services in Environmental Solutions, Property Re-development, Project Management services on Design & Build constructions, Green building and Clean Energy. The Indian subsidiary was established at Hyderabad and operates under two broader business verticals - Consulting & Construction; Consulting includes Environmental Impact Assessment, Hazardous waste management, LEED etc and construction includes green vertical construction and harmonized community systems.

Role & Responsibilties:

Strategic Business Planning:

Supported the business line managers & senior management in all decision making processes, especially in project pricing & business proposals

Evaluated business proposals worth USD 40 million, yielding a revenue of USD$ 5 million

Implemented corporate’s ‘Value Blue Print Profit’ model - a benchmarking tool for achieving targeted profit from various categories of business in India

Coordinated & participated in the financial planning process and acted as an interface between Operations & Finance team for closure of finance/accounting issues

Developed effective financial reporting processes as part of a team and prepared bi-weekly forecasts for management review

Financial Management & Accounting:

Implemented “Cost point” an ERP package, in coordination with US & local teams, suggested corrective business processes & trained people.

Explained and convinced the auditors about the systems and got the first year accounts from ERP to pass through audit.

Mentored & imparted training for the Business line managers on the key business metrics of the corporate.

Improved the worsening cash position through various measures including establishing a USD 3 Million credit facility with a foreign bank.

Ensured smooth migration & stabilized the payroll process & salary payments on a timely basis at the time of outsourcing of payroll services

Taxation & Compliance:

Managed income tax matters like filing of returns, assessments, transfer pricing issues & avoidance of PE issues

Regulated & ensured compliance on finance and accounting matters viz., the timely completion of the financial closing, filing of returns & tax

Engaged and ensured financial audits were completed on time

Handled two audits in a year, carried out by one of Top 4 Global audit firm


Reported to “Chief Operating officer” (COO) at India, while working closely with the “Global Division Financial Controller” at Hawaii and Corporate Accounts Team at US Head office. (Previously, reported to President & CEO, who later got elevated to MD and relocated to US)

Manager - Management Analysis, EIS and Internal Controls, NPC Limited, Saudi Arabia (Feb 2002 - Jul 2007)

Was part of the Executive Co-ordination Cell & provided business intelligence inputs for strategic decision making by the Managing Director.

Investment analysis:

Worked with external consultants on the "pre-merger” studies of the company; (merger proposal with another listed company in KSA)

Gathered in depth process understanding to conduct feasibility studies & costing evaluation to produce Glucosamine / chitosan / chitin (pharmaceutical grade) from the by-products of the main business which is shrimp heads. Prepared financial models and investment analysis for board’s review and approval.

Designed ‘Financial model’ for a Shrimp Farming project with SAR 62mn investments & assisted the business development team in preparing its feasibility report

Business Analytics:

Scripted numerous detailed analysis & flash reports on the key business performance metrics, including related to cost, credit policy, risk management & mitigation, sales price analysis

Established EIS (Executive Information System) in an ERP environment, with the IT team & determined the relevant key performance metrics to be tracked.

Assisted in compiling many reports for the board meetings

Participated in the development and administration of the Company’s annual budget

Strategic Support:

Participated in “Pay roll Revision Committee” meetings.

Involved in the Strategic Planning meets of the senior management.

Acted as Coordinator in the Corporate Policies implementation committee

Contributed in the “Bonus committee” meetings to design new bonus program

Internal Controls

Designed workflow charts & identified internal control points in the Finance department

Created controls in capital expenditure approvals, refundable customs duty, shipping guarantee, L/C related issues, budget monitoring control & bank accounts management

Streamlined several GL Accounts by continuous analysis and reports and designed and implemented special MIS reports on Sales & Receivables

• R.V. Chander Associates, Chennai, Jun 2001 to Jan 2002 - Responsible for Internal Audit and Management Audits at the corporate office, factory and branches of the several client companies.

Companies visited for audit include:
Ucal Fuel Systems Ltd, Gurgaon & Chennai,
TTK Prestige Ltd, Bangalore branch,
Thomson Electronics and Entertainments Ltd, Chennai & Bangalore,
Indo National Ltd (Nippo Batteries) Chennai

• Head - Terminal/Unit Accounts, J.M. Baxi & Company, Jamnagar, Gujarat, Sep 1998 to Apr 2001- a reputed shipping, stevedoring, logistics company (www.jmbaxi.com)

• Responsible for setting up the accounts dept and established a successful system on each and every aspect like monitoring the Receivables, contractors' payments, supplier payments, cargo movement accounting to track cost, TDS & service tax payments, bank accounts. Headed the branch/unit accounts, which had a cash flow of around INR 250 million annually during 1998-2001.

Handled accounts for 67 ships (vessels), for a cargo turnover of 1.40 million tons (approx.) of export / import cargo (Fertilizer, Soya meal, wheat, Rice)

• Extensive experience in internal and statutory audits with reputed companies (in auto/auto ancillary industries) for nearly 4 ½ years, which includes 3 years of CA article ship training with a reputed audit firm at Chennai. Companies visited for audit during article ship training include TVS-Suzuki Ltd (now TVS Motor Ltd), Sundaram Clayton Ltd, Sundaram Fasteners Ltd (Chennai, Madurai and Hosur), TVS-Electronics Ltd, Harita Grammar Ltd, Harita Rubber Products Ltd, TVS- Whirlpool Ltd, Upaasana Finance Ltd.

• Worked as an Internal Auditor with Farida Shoes Ltd, (at Bommasandra unit, Bangalore), a flagship Company of the Farida Group of companies, who are pioneers in the leather business, leather clothing and shoe uppers (www.farida.com)